Familiar
by Ambiguous Rose
Summary: Ichigo frowned. “Kuchiki? That sounds….” “Familiar?” Ishida offered. “Yeah we thought so too. Couldn’t tell you from where, though.” IchiRuki and IshiHime.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Not one peice...too bad.**

**Summary: Ichigo frowned. "Kuchiki? That sounds…." "Familiar?" Ishida offered. "Yeah we thought so too. Couldn't tell you from where, though." IchiRuki and IshiHime. **

**A/N:I wrote this at about ten o'clock, so I'm not sure how good it is. But I like it. All italics are flashbacks. I know this should probably be IchiHime, but being the helpless romantic that I am I hate onesided love, so I made it IshiHime. Oh well. Please enjoy, and review.**

**_Familiar_**

"_What do you think happens when we die?" Ichigo asked aloud._

_He was sitting outside with Inoue Orihime, Ishida Uryuu and Kuchiki Rukia._

"_You already died, baka," Rukia pointed out._

_Ichigo aimed a whack at her arm. "You know what I mean, midget," he growled. "The second time."_

_Nobody answered, and the group fell back into silence. After about five minutes, Ishida broke it. "I'd like to think there'd be peace," he said quietly._

"_Huh?"_

"_Peace and happiness," said Ishida again. "I've had enough war to last me an eternity."_

_Ichigo nodded. "Peace would be nice."_

"_I've almost forgotten what that was," Orihime muttered quietly._

"_Yeah," whispered Rukia._

_­­­­­­_

Kurosaki Ichigo massaged his temples. A headache was brewing. He was getting sick of the nightmares and dreams he had been having as of late, but they wouldn't seem to go away.

"Kurosaki-kun!"

He turned his head and found himself face-to-face with his best friend's chest. Her very _large _chest. He pulled his head back, and blinked. "Inoue," he greeted. He looked behind her. "Ishida.

"Kurosaki," Uryuu Ishida said.

"Have you seen the new girl?" Orihime asked.

"No," Ichigo said. Then he frowned. "There's a new girl?" he asked.

Orihime's eyebrows knitted together. "You didn't know?" she asked in surprise. "Well, yeah. She's in our class."

Ishida patted his girlfriend on the shoulder. "Orihime-san, he wasn't here yesterday, remember?"

Her face lit up. "Oh yes! Are you feeling better today Kurosaki-kun?" she asked.

Ichigo chuckled. "Yeah, thanks," he said. "What's her name anyway?" he asked.

Orihime smile. "Rukia. Kuchiki Rukia."

_Ichigo grabbed Rukia's arm. "You know, don't you?" he asked._

_"What? What do I know?" Her voice had a hard edge to it._

"_What happens?"_

_Rukia glared at him. "What happens when, idiot? When you ask me a question, you have to be specific."_

"_When someone dies a second time," he growled._

"_I don't know."_

_Ichigo scowled at her. "Yes you do. You've been on edge ever since I mentioned it!"_

_She gave a sigh. "Yeah," she said softly. "I do."_

Ichigo frowned. "Kuchiki? That sounds…."

"Familiar?" Ishida offered. "Yeah we thought so too. Couldn't tell you from where, though."

"What does she look like, anyway?" Ichigo asked.

Orihime smiled. "You can see for yourself. You can meet her today."

As if to prove her true, in walked a short, fifteen year old, black haired girl with violent, violet eyes.

Ichigo frowned. "Damn, she looks familiar."

"_Well?" Ichigo asked. _

_Rukia sighed, "Shinigami are reincarnated. Usually as a human soul. It's a never-ending cycle. You could have been a reincarnated a thousand times, but you'd never know, your memories don't come too."_

"_How do you know that's what happens, then?"_

"_Sometimes a Shinigami might meet his or her former Captain while on a mission to the Real World. Same name, same behavior, same looks, but one's supposed to know, I guess."_

"Doesn't she, though?" Ishida asked. "We thought that yesterday, but didn't know why."

The topic of their discussion walked over. "Hello Inoue-chan, Ishida-kun, Strawberry."

"Oi!" Ichigo exclaimed. "What was that for midget?!"

Rukia frowned. "I have no idea where that came from. I'm sorry. That's not how I usually greet people. Let's try this again. I'm Rukia."

"Ichigo."

She grinned. "So you are a Strawberry."

He gave her an indignant shout of, "Oi! No I'm not, shorty!"

"Hey!"

Orihime and Uryuu shared a look.

_Something in his gut told him that this would be his last fight. He wasn't going to win. Ichigo could just tell. Or he wasn't going to survive._

_But he was determined to beat Aizen, or die trying._

Ichigo sat on a bench outside the school. Uryuu and Orihime had some sewing club thing, and he had promised to wait for them.

'Why did I agree to do this again?' he asked himself.

Something, or someone in his head answered. ''Cuz you're a nice guy deep down?'

'Oi! Who said that?!' he asked mentally.

The voice snickered.

"I'm getting laughed at by a voice in my head," Ichigo observed aloud. "That's not right…"

"You know that talking to yourself is a sign of madness?"

Ichigo turned around and saw Kuchiki Rukia sit beside him. "So I've heard. Rukia," he greeted.

"Ichigo." Then she frowned. "Why do you do that?"

"What?"

"Use my given name when you use Ishida-kun's and Orihime-chan's family names."

Ichigo shrugged. "'Cuz that's how you introduced yourself?" he said. "Besides, it feels…better.."

Rukia nodded. "Mm." There was silence for a moment and then she asked, "Do you ever…" she trailed off.

"Do I ever what?"

She frowned. "Do you ever feel like, I don't know, life's repeating itself, or something?"

"Like fate's screwing with you?" he asked.

"Yeah."

_"Ichigo." It was Rukia. "Ichigo."_

_He barely managed to crawl over to her. "Hey," he said weakly._

_She smile at him, but it turned into a wince. Her middle, and half of her face was scarlet. "We're not gonna make it, are we?"_

_He shook his head, as much as it hurt to do so. "No. I don't think so."_

_She glanced over at where Uryuu and Orihime lay. "I hope they get their peace," she said softly._

"_Yeah me too."_

"_I wouldn't mind some peace for myself."_

_Ichigo shook his head again. "No rest for the wicked, Rukia, you know that." Then he smiled. "Besides we're too specialful."_

_Rukia chuckled, then coughed. "D-don't make me laugh, Ichigo," she told him._

"_Sorry," he frowned. He took her small, red-coated hand in his own. "Hey Rukia."_

"_What?"_

"_When we both die…don't forget me."_

Rukia nodded wisely, but there was a frown on her face. "Like we've all met before?" she asked.

"I remember the first time I met Inoe and Ishida, I knew them too," Ichigo said.

"Maybe in a past life," she offered him the explanation.

_"Ichigo…" Rukia managed softly. They were both almost dead. It was now or never._

_He gave her a weak smile. "What?"_

"_I…I…love…you…" she whispered._

_He gave her another small smile, despite his pain. "Yeah, love you too, midget."_

_Ichigo brought her small hand to his lips and kissed it softly._

_And then they were gone._

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "Maybe in a past life."

_END_

**AN2: Yeah I know, corny ending...but alas... Review!**


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